Huddersfield Giants have had more bad injury news with skipper Brett Hodgson ruled out for a month with a thigh strain.
Giants skipper out for a month with thigh injury
Huddersfield Giants have had more bad injury news with skipper Brett Hodgson ruled out for a month with a thigh strain.
Hodgson is set to miss next month's Challenge Cup final re-match between Huddersfield and Warrington, the club he is expected to join next season.
Hooker Shaun Lunt has also been ruled out with an Achillies injury, but the Giants have now been told he will be out for only four weeks so he will return to action earlier than expected.
Huddersfield captain Hodgson, who is thought to have agreed a two-year contract with Warrington after rejecting a 12-month extension, missed his side's 38-10 win over Crusaders on Sunday.
Leroy Cudjoe stepped into the full-back role for the fifth time this season and coach Nathan Brown has hinted that he could be the permanent replacement for Hodgson despite reports linking the club with a move for Warrington's Richard Mathers.
Captain
"Brett's our captain and the reigning Man of Steel so it's clear how important he is but it does offer the opportunity for the rest of the team to step up in what is an important month for us," he said.
"Leroy came in at full-back against the Crusaders and did a good job and he is a player that will keep improving.
"The important thing is how players respond to it and generally this year we have played well without Brett including a victory over Leeds so the onus is on the team to step up for the weeks ahead."
Cudjoe will almost certainly be at full-back for the first of successive Engage Super League clashes with leaders Wigan at Murrayfield on Sunday and the May 8 tie against Warrington at the Galpharm Stadium.
Lunt will be another absentee for those big matches but initially Brown feared he would lose the 23-year-old for up to two months after he hurt his Achilles in the pre-match warm-up on Sunday.
"It's going to be around three to four weeks which is certainly not as long as we first feared and is really pleasing," said Brown.
"You'd always like to have all your players fit and healthy but, with Brad Drew coming back and Luke Robinson playing great, we feel like we have the cover there to do really well."
